5 Best Places for a Salad or Soup in Carmel, NY

Carmel, New York, offers no shortage of satisfying restaurants. In fact, you’ll find so many options that the hardest part of dining out is often just choosing where to go. If you’re looking for something simple, such as soup or a salad, you’ll want to target a restaurant that does it right. Rich, flavorful soups and crisp, veggie-laden salads make even a light lunch feel like an indulgence. Here are our top picks for where to go.

Greek Village

If you enjoy Greek flavors, there’s just one restaurant you need on your radar for a great lunch. One satisfied customer of Greek Village enthused in their review that they “love their salads and Greek specialties.” This is for a good reason, as the salad menu includes more than half a dozen options.

If you like to keep it light, the tossed and Caesar salads are classic picks. The Greek salad is quintessential, featuring tomato, cucumber, red onion, pepperoncini, olives, and feta cheese on a bed of lettuce, dolmades, and a drizzle of anchovy oil and red wine vinegar.

If you want to pack some protein into your salad, the spinach salad is a great option, featuring spinach, mushrooms, red onion, hard-boiled egg, feta, and bacon. The Greek cobb salad is another protein-packed choice with hard-boiled egg, bacon, and avocado. The chef’s salad layers on turkey, ham, roast beef, American cheese, and Swiss cheese. If you prefer ocean-inspired flavors, try the seafood salad piled high with shrimp, calamari, and crab meat. Greek Village is a great option when you want a salad that will keep you full.

Location: 1856 US-6, Carmel Hamlet.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Carmel Diner

Family-owned and operated for more than 25 years, the Carmel Diner is a local staple that’s too good to miss. One satisfied reviewer put it perfectly, saying it provides “good service, and their soups are the best.” All the soups at Carmel Diner are served fresh daily. Options include chicken noodles, matzo ball, onion, clam chowder, French onion, and chili.

The salad selection also offers an abundance of choices. You can choose a simple garden salad to pair with a hearty bowl of soup or simply opt for a larger entree salad. The Carmel salad delight is a specialty featuring romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. The Tuscan salad is hearty with grilled chicken, avocado, roasted peppers, and fresh mozzarella. If you fancy a little extra kick, try the Santa Fe fajita salad with grilled chicken, Monterey jack cheese, and nacho chips. This restaurant will easily become your new lunchtime favorite.

Location: 63 Gleneida Ave., Carmel.

Hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 7 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.

Thai Golden

Thai Golden offers flavor-packed soups and salads that will shake up your routine. The options here are far from ordinary, showcasing the full range of what a soup or salad can be.

The Thai salad has mixed greens, cucumber, tomato, carrot, red cabbage, and fried tofu in peanut sauce. The Som Tum salad features green papaya, tomato, carrot, string beans, and peanuts in a dressing of lime, sugar, and fish sauce. Add enticing shrimp to the mix with the mango salad, including pineapple, tomato, red onion, scallions, and cashews. The crispy duck salad adds intriguing flavors from scallions, mint, pineapple, and mango.

You’ll find several Thai favorites on the soup menu, such as tom yum goong with shrimp and mushrooms in lemongrass and chicken broth. The tom kha gai features chicken and mushrooms in coconut milk and chicken broth. The vegan coconut kale soup gets raving reviews with its blend of coconut milk, broccoli, potato, kale, garlic, ginger, and lemongrass. You can also order one of several noodle soups with chicken, beef, or duck.

Location: 5 Seminary Hill Road, Carmel.

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Monday, and Thursday and 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Northwood Inn

The Northwood Inn reflects the owner’s Polish roots. The soups and salads reflect this by offering hearty options rich in meats, mushrooms, and spices. You can choose for your soup from a veggie-packed chicken soup, homemade French onion soup, or special day soup. These delicious options are so well-made you can even target Northwood Inn for a special date night dinner.

The signature Northwood salad has field greens, iceberg lettuce, and romaine lettuce with red onions, tomatoes, chopped bacon, avocado, hard-boiled egg, and grilled chicken. The grilled vegetable and Portobello salad is another mouthwatering favorite with a mesclun salad mix topped with grilled bell peppers, squash, Portobello mushrooms, and fresh mozzarella.

Location: 14 Frances Kiernan Place, Carmel.

Hours: Noon to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday.

McCarthy’s Grill House

Numerous reviewers call out the great soups at McCarthy’s Grill House. The daily soup selection includes three decadent homemade options: French onion, lobster bisque, and New England clam chowder. You’ll also find a selection of seasonal soups that reflect the best flavors any time of the year. These hearty options are great when you want a warm, comforting lunch.

The salad menu provides plenty of additional options with a chef’s salad, cobb salad, taco salad, buffalo chicken salad, cranberry bleu salad, and oriental Asian salad. You can also get a large or small house or Caesar salad. If you choose the large option, you can add grilled/Cajun chicken or grilled/Cajun shrimp to make a real meal of it. McCarthy’s Grill House also offers a seasonal summer menu.

Location: 374 Route 52, Carmel.

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Do you know of other great restaurants in Carmel for soup or salad? Contact our team at Meadowland GMC and let us know, so we can update our listing. We want to have the best recommendations in town for our customers.

Photo Credit: Image by Farhad Ibrahimzade is licensed with Unsplash License